I remember the first time I saw Jurassic Park on the big screen, the heart-thumping moment as the T-Rex roared in Jeff Goldblum’s face and proceeded to eat the blood-sucking lawyer.. my mind was blown by what I was seeing. In gaming, it is a little more difficult to achieve these moments because your brain isn’t on autopilot and you are (hopefully) attempting to keep your avatar as the breathing variety. However, when these moments do come it is enhanced by the knowledge that this is an interactive ride and it’s up to you whether Jeff gets to star in the naff sequel. 

The balance between visual splendour and satisfying gameplay can become a battleground for developers, often sacrificing one to gain ground in the other. Every so often a game will come along that not only takes your breath away with its handsome visage but also has the gameplay chops to back it up. Ori and the Will of The Wisps, like it’s predecessor, is one such game. 

Connective Tissue

For those who are meeting Ori for the first time, I would heartily recommend you play the original (definitive edition) before you set out on this adventure. While the platforming and puzzle-solving doesn’t strictly require deep knowledge of events past, this is a story worth experiencing properly. Ori is a tree spirit who was created from the great tree Nibel in the first game. After facing the main adversary, the gigantic and deadly owl Kuru, Ori is left in the care of this creatures only surviving child. The Will of The Wisps opens with your adopted guardians Naru and Sein, helping raise this young owl (with the help of Ori of course).

Most of the story telling in the original game was narrated by the great tree Nibel, which was then complemented some very moving set pieces. Small animated scenes would occasionally play out but overall the levels would be largely about the intense platforming ending in a climactic chase sequence. While this template is broadly the same, I feel like that line between story scenes and straight gameplay is a little more blurred here. For most, this will be a very good thing as it makes the whole experience feel more cohesive and they never overstay their welcome. However, for the speed runners of the world, these more frequent story beats might be an unwelcome distraction from the exhilarating platform and puzzle action. I personally love this ever so subtle change because both elements are meshed together with a deft hand.

In the Will of The Wisps, there are far more characters to interact with and these various creatures form part of the larger story telling process. Grom, for example, is helping rebuild the Wellspring area which then goes on to form a sort of hub for Ori in the forest of Niwen. As you explore new areas you can collect a special type of ore which can be brought back to help with this building process. You are now also able to take on small side quests for the characters you meet, which will often lead to new or secret areas. For those of you who played both the original release of The Blind Forest and the definitive edition, you will know how much more Moon Studios packed into that enhanced version. Two whole new sections, new abilities and so on. In addition to telling you what a wonderful developer this is I also now feel like the team were starting to test the water for this more RPG like sequel.

Same box, new Tricks

So it would have been very easy the team over at Moon Studios to stick with the exact same formula and hope the new story would carry the experience. I am very pleased to see, however, that they have been working really hard to iterate on the best parts of Blind Forest and have even added some entirely new systems. 

Once the story introduction has run its course (I don’t want to spoil it for you) Ori is once again stood on her own facing hostile environment. With little more than a plucky attitude (now missing the sprite from the first game) you have nary weapons so you make your way to the first tree of light. As the local creatures explain, the tree recognises the ancient light within Ori and thus grants her a new ability. As with the first game, these locations are your primary way of gaining new abilities, the first of which is your basic attack. This sword of light does not auto-attack enemies as the sprite did, so straight away I felt more aggressive and involved with attacking. Even though this is a melee weapon, it still looks and feels elegant. As you gain currency you will be able to visit a certain vendor and purchase new weapons such as a powerful spear or Spirit Star that returns to your hand.

One thing you will notice very quickly is that the sequential skill tree from Blind Forest has now been replaced by a Spirt Shard system (similar to the charms in Hollow Knight) which allows you to swap out skills on the fly. The rub is that you only start with a very small number of shard slots, so having the right skills becomes not only about progression but also making a wise choice for that particular challenge you face. In a game that is already at times extremely challenging this additional layer of choice can make things even more interesting. You do encounter combat challenges that are essentially arena fights where you must best multiple waves of enemies. These, in turn, grant you an extra skill shard slot and so I would urge you to seek these out early.

This wouldn't have worked in the previous game as combat was to be avoided if possible, but with a more confident Ori you can give John Wick a run for his money. With more weapons to enjoy with it comes more boss creatures to scrap with. I found most of these encounters enjoyable and tense with many making you feel tiny in comparison.

What surprised me (and had me initially worried) at the start was how much of the original skill set was handed over with relative ease. The bash skill, for example, one of the most powerful traversal skills in the game that allows Ori to use many items (including projectiles and enemies) as anchor points to leap in any direction. Having received this within the first two hours of play I was worried the learning curve would peak too early but my fears were soon allayed. The grapple is one of Ori’s new tricks that allows her (I think she is a she) to tether towards certain blue items (and surfaces) so fast it actually reminded me of the teleporting mutant in X-Men. As I started to work these new skills in with the old, it was obvious Ori was now even more agile and some incredible move combinations were now possible. 

Flash Dance

I never thought it would be possible for a game (even its own sequel) to best the genre-defining platforming of The Blind Forest and yet somehow it really does. The first improvement I noticed was how much more nimble Ori feels and looks. I just adore the way she does a little handstand at the top of poles or will swing around them a few times when landing at speed. There is an ever so subtle weight and flow to her movements this time around that is grounded by her environment. The spaces around Ori feel more reactive to her presence, sections of earth giving under your slender frame or foliage shifting as you skip past. The very fabric of the world creaks, bends and wanes as wind blows and the forces of nature make themselves known.

I was especially enamoured by the final section of what could be considered as the first area. The Mill is required to get fresh water flowing again which will then allow access to previously unreachable submerged areas. As you make your way around the interior of this giant mechanical maze the entire structure can shift, leaving you temporarily scrabbling with this new perspective. This was such a wonderful surprise and kept me on my toes throughout the whole section. There are also some very enjoyable moments as Ori joins her new friend as they work together and the controls shift to show this new way of moving. Will of The Wisps is also bigger than Blind Forest by a considerable margin and with the addition of side quests visiting old areas will be more frequent.

Save the Day

I would say one of the most controversial (and likely divisive) changes to this Ori game will be the way you save your progress. In the Blind Forest, you would use energy to create a Soul Link which would then create a save point to that location. This was a nice risk and reward process: you didn't want to save too often or you’d be out of energy but ultimately you were in control when facing a particularly gruelling set of obstacles. 

In Will of The Wisps, this system has now been removed in favour of an auto-save and we all know how much PC gamers love their auto-saves. So I’ll just be very open about this, I abhor auto-save systems because when they go wrong you can end up having to replay large sections of a game or in my own experience occasionally having my entire progress knackered. However, if we are being fair, as there was only one Soul Link created at a time in the original, you could end up in some very tricky situations. I will also say that the auto-save in Will of The Wisps is very good and will generally keep you nearby. Only in one instance did the game load me in on the opposite side of a wall where I died, leading to twenty minutes of backtracking. Soul Wells are also still a thing and these handy structures not only fill up your bars but also can be travelled to anytime.

Is it PC?

The visuals in The Will of the Wisps are at a glance identical to the first game but on closer comparison there is much more going on. As I have already mentioned, the levels Ori must travel across also feel more interactive. For example, when Ori does a ground pound even the layers behind where Ori lands will move due to the impact. The use of Parallax Scrolling has once again been used by the developers to wonderful effect. This technique also seems to have been modified for Will of the Wisps allowing assets to move between layers or make them seem more connected. I won’t pretend to know all the technical wizardry that is going on to make this work,  but I know I like it and it looks incredible.

Overall the performance of the game has been great, with a steady framerate from fast-paced chase sequences to large boss creatures leaping around the screen. The options screen is pretty sparse and normally I would criticise a game for this but Ori is just one of those titles that run perfectly out of the box. The only minor issue I did notice was a blurring effect on the terrain when the game pans over a level showing what is ahead. As for controls, yes you can play on mouse and keyboard but this really is a game that was made to be played on a good controller (and if I’m recommending a controller you know it must be right).

Once again, Gareth Coker is in charge of the music in Will of The Wisps and as expected, he has at the very least matched his previous work. Gareth has stated this time around he wanted to reflect in the gameplay music that Ori is a little older and so doesn’t find dangerous situations as terrifying. Honestly, there are moments where an emotional scene is playing out, the ethereal music fades in and your spine just tingles. This has to be one of the best soundtracks to a game I have ever heard and I thank Gareth for putting his talents into this project.

Conclusion 

Many times in a gamers life you will be asked what your favourite game is and for most, it can be an agonising decision-making process. My personal choice is always X-Com but then comes the sadistic choice: do I go classic or opt for amazing reinvention from Firaxis. This is where I am currently sitting with Ori, while I know the second game is a perfect evolution of the first; the original still has a special place in my heart.

Let’s settle it like this: the original Ori was the best platform game ever created because it had everything. Eye melting visuals, pixel-perfect platforming and a heart-wrenching storyline that gave Finding Nemo a run for its money. Well, Will of the Wisps improves every element of the former, adds some significant (and brave) new ideas of its own and somehow still manages to makes both games feel like they are cut from the same cloth. At this point, I would tell you that if you love platform games this is a must-buy, but the truth is everyone should play Ori and the Will of The Wisps.

I hope you enjoyed my review of Ori and the Will of The Wisps.  I would like to thanks the PR team over at Microsoft for giving me the chance to play this game early. Please come back to the site soon, tell your friends about us and follow me @riggedforepic for more PC gaming content.